(1) Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of musical instruments, and more particularly to Tarpin, a string musical instrument.
(2) Discussion
String musical instruments have been well known in the art for thousands of years. One such instrument was Lyre. Over 3000 B.C. in Greece, Egypt, Samaria, Rome and Armenia Lyre was quite popular.
A lyre is a stringed musical instrument, in which two arms jut out on one side of the instrument's body and at their tips support a yoke or crossbar to which gut strings are attached. The strings run to the body, across the belly or soundboard, over a bridge, and to a stringholder at the lower end of the belly. In box lyres, the body and belly form a hollow wooden box; in bowl lyres, the body may be a tortoise shell or carved bowl, and the belly is of animal skin.
Box lyres with asymmetrical arms were known in ancient Sumeria by 2800 BC; this western Asian lyre was also played in ancient Egypt, as was a smaller symmetrical lyre. Lyres were extremely popular in Greece and were associated with the god Apollo. Two main varieties were made. The kithara, played by professional musicians was a box lyre with thick, symmetrical, hollow arms; it was plucked with a plectrum, or pick. The lyra, played by amateurs and plucked with the fingers, was a bowl lyre, typically a tortoise shell with a belly of bull's hide.
The kinnor of the ancient Hebrews, the instrument of King David, was like the kithara. In modern times similar lyres, with or without a bridge, are played in East Africa. They include the Beganna, which was also like the kithara, and the lyra-like krar, both of Ethiopia. In African and ancient lyres the strings are wound around the crossbar and tightened by adjusting the windings or by inserting small wooden wedges in the windings. The left-hand fingers typically damp the unwanted strings, while the right-hand fingers sweep across all the strings, either directly or with a plectrum. In the Middle Ages box lyres were widely used in northern Europe until about AD 1000. These lyres usually had crossbars carved of the same piece of wood as the body and arms; they also had tuning pegs. Until about 1000 they were plucked; thereafter, bowing them was more common. Bowed lyres survived into the 20th century in Finland and Estonia. In Wales, the Croth, which had a fingerboard running from the crossbar to the body, was played into the 19th century.
However, a musician could not play very many notes on the Lyre in any of the previous forms, as they did not have frets. Therefore, upon the discovery of more advanced string instruments (i.e. Guitar, Violin, etc.) that had frets, Lyre became antiquated and obsolete and eventually forgotten. Today, only a few renovated models and some pictures of the traditional Lyre are displayed in museums in Germany and England. Also, certain African Lyres are still used for choral songs, magic, witchcraft, or curative purposes.
Today, there is a need in the art for an instrument that has the artistic beauty of a Lyre, yet able to produce a vast range of notes. The present invention, Tarpin, resembles a Lyre in its artistic form and shape, while it enables a musician to play all European and international scales, including melodies in the form of polyphonic and homophonic along with harmony. Tarpin is superior to all other string instruments in the prior art, in that a musician can play an enormous range of notes on eleven (11) strings, with very limited movement of one hand over the fret, while most other instrument require the musician to move his hand along the neck of the instrument. On an eleven (11) string Tarpin, a musician can play up to four and half octaves, with hardly any movement of a hand over the frets. Although, Tarpin is exceptionally simple to play, it can achieve all melodies, chords, and arpeggios along with harmony. There are many chords in many inversions that can only be played on Tarpin. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Tarpin has five (5) frets and eleven (11) strings. In its preferred embodiment, Tarpin has a tuning box that makes it possible for a performer to easily and quickly tune the instrument with the use of an Allen wrench. Tarpin is an ideal instrument that looks and sounds divine. It is truly a gift to the world of art and music.